Monday 05/06/13

The Water Resources Development Act will come up for a cloture vote early this evening in the U.S. Senate on whether to proceed with debate on the Water Resources Development Act, or S. 601.

This bill is going to be closely watched by groups wanting to see improvements to the way the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans and develops inland waterway projects.

Last month, the Congressional Budget Office pegged the cost of WRDA at $5.7 billion through 2018. For a full 10-year funding projection, WRDA would cost $12.2 billion.

According to CBO estimates, WRDA would spend about $3.4 billion on 27 water resource projects from 2014-2018.

It should be noted that the Army Corps of Engineers has backlog of about $60 billion for construction projects.

The bill also allows the Corps to set up a $100 million a year grant program for states and local governments to fund levee improvements as well. Another $500 million would be set aside for loans or loan guarantees for local and state governments to complete water infrastructure projects.

Like pretty much everything else in DC, the WRDA bill, which passed out of committee unanimously, now has critics lining up to stop it. The National Wildlife Federation and Natural Resources Defense Council oppose language that would allow the Corps to speed up its review process on water projects. One complaint among shippers and others is the growing timeframe it takes to build projects. The environmental groups argue those safeguards help project against poor planning and projects that would affect vital habitat.

On the other side, taxpayer watchdog groups complain that the WRDA bill gives the Corps too much power in deciding which projects to develop instead of Congress. Nine groups sent a letter last month to senators opposing the WRDA bill.

"Congress is just rubber stamping what the Corps decides to do," said Joshua Sewell, senior policy analyst at Taxpayers for Common Sense. "We need to find a way to prioritize our projects and figure out which projects are actually in the nation interest.”

This is somewhat ironic because WRDA used to be largely a list of funding earmarks. Changes in Congress gutted the ability to do earmarks. Instead, the WRDA bill goes back and tries to complete some projects already approved in prior WRDA bills.

One element to watch in the WRDA debate is whether Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., and other co-sponsors will introduce the "Reinvesting in Vital Economic Rivers and Waterways Act," or RIVER Act, as an amendment to the WRDA bill. The RIVER Act actually increases the fuel tax paid by barge operators by 9 cents a gallon. Groups such as the Waterways Council have advocated for increasing the tax to help fund construction projects.

The RIVER Act also would move the now-infamous Olmstead Lock and Dam project "off the books" of the trust fund. Located on the Ohio River splitting Kentucky and Illinois, Olmstead was authorized in the 1988 WRDA bill and is still incomplete. At $2.2 billion in costs and climbing, the Olmstead project also has a $1.4 billion tab in cost overruns.

Fri Jul 31, 2015 04:17 PM CDTPresident Barack Obama signed off on the temporary bill Friday, but indicated his frustration with Congress over the inability to approve a long-term highway bill. He noted that the lack of a long-term bill makes it hard for governors and mayors to set priorities for roads, bridges, airports and ports.

Thu Jul 30, 2015 10:00 AM CDTA number of agriculture interest groups are among 269 organizations that asked President Barack Obama Wednesday to stop the release of more stringent national ambient air quality standards by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, set for release sometime this year.

Mon Jul 27, 2015 11:35 AM CDTThe White House announced Monday it was launching an initiative highlighting the "American Business Act on Climate Pledge. The effort spotlighted 13 large American companies pushing for action on climate change. The announcement had some emphasis on agriculture, food processing and continued opportunities for landowners to make money through renewable energy, particularly expanded wind production.

Thu Jul 23, 2015 01:44 PM CDTUSDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service is launching a conservation survey of farmers and ranchers to get an idea of what kinds of practices farmers are implementing, according to a news release from USDA.

Wed Jul 22, 2015 02:50 PM CDTEnvironmentalists and others who contend the only way to reduce nutrients runoff into the Gulf of Mexico is through regulation, may not be happy with the release of the final Illinois nutrient loss reduction strategy Tuesday that is a virtual copy of the Iowa strategy hammered on by critics as 'too soft.'

Mon Jul 20, 2015 01:17 PM CDTFor a third-consecutive year a cover crops survey of 1,200 farmers across the country continue to see bumps in corn and soybean yields following the use of cover crops. In addition, the Conservation Technology Information Center Cover Crop Survey recorded an increase in the number of cover crop acres planted nationwide.

Fri Jul 17, 2015 03:08 PM CDTThe Senate Finance Committee on Friday rolled out a package of business tax breaks that the committee will take up on Tuesday. The plan deals with about 50 individual and business taxes that would translate into about $95.6 billion in overall tax breaks for people and companies.

Wed Jul 15, 2015 12:27 PM CDTIn the debate over agricultural market access in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, the European agricultural group Copa-Cogeca has spelled out some conditions its leaders believe need to be met to make the European trade deal a benefit for both sides of the Atlantic.

Mon Jul 13, 2015 11:30 AM CDTI got an email over the weekend from my congressman, an enthusiastic freshman, who is boasting that Congress, as a government agency, has cut its own budget. Other government agencies should do the same.

Thu Jul 9, 2015 01:30 PM CDTA bill that would make significant cuts to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency budget was grounded Thursday, after Republican members objected to an amendment passed by voice vote Tuesday night to ban the Confederate flag at national cemeteries, according to The Hill.

Tue Jul 7, 2015 11:33 AM CDTThe American Farm Bureau Federation sent a letter Monday to every member of the House of Representatives asking lawmakers to "reject any proposals that amend, repeal, defund or otherwise modify or interfere with the Renewable Fuels Standard."

Wed Jul 1, 2015 02:42 PM CDTThe U.S. Agriculture Coalition for Cuba praised the announcement Wednesday by President Barack Obama that the U.S. and Cuba will officially re-establish diplomatic relations on July 20 with the re-opening of respective embassies.

Mon Jun 29, 2015 05:06 PM CDTIt would generally be considered a pretty rare occurrence that the National Cattlemen's Beef Association finds itself in agreement with the group Food & Water Watch. But the two disparate groups nonetheless find themselves equally appalled at USDA for allowing imported beef from northern Argentina and 14 states Brazil known for FMD outbreaks.

Fri Jun 26, 2015 11:59 AM CDTLeaders from the group AGree this week called on Congress to take a top-to-bottom review of agricultural research in the country. AGree's leaders issued a paper breaking down issues surrounding research and development in agriculture and food production. The group AGree was formed to seek consensus among different stakeholders on policy areas important to agriculture.

Wed Jun 24, 2015 02:24 PM CDTSenate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts and his committee's ranking member, Sen. Debbie Stabenow, head into a hearing Thursday clearly divided on the issue of country-of-origin labeling for meat. Roberts is pushing for full repeal of the labels while Stabenow is pitching a voluntary approach to the problem.

Tue Jun 16, 2015 08:44 AM CDTAhead of a scheduled June 25 public hearing in Kansas City, Kansas, on the Renewable Fuel Standard Iowa's Congressional delegation is asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to host a public hearing in Iowa.

Fri Jun 12, 2015 12:51 PM CDTThe House Energy and Commerce Committee will weigh in on the debate over biotech labeling laws next week with a hearing over legislation by Rep. Mike Pompeo, a Republican from Kansas.

Wed Jun 10, 2015 09:33 PM CDTThe House voted 300 to 131 to repeal country of origin labels for meat. While the bill now goes to the Senate, the House vote represents a victory for Canadian and Mexican livestock producers.